11 Points on Responding to Current Events

1.) Respond not react - The social media an internet age is cultivating a culture of reaction, instead of response. Reaction is just the first thing that comes out, whereas response is very carefully mediated and well-thought out. Responding allows for actual follow-through, whereas reacting generally changes with the wind and makes you unreliable and therefore difficult to trust or have authority in the eyes of those around you. It also generates the atmosphere of the emotions it was birthed in.

2.) Choose your battles - Not everything is worth your time and energy. You do not have to have an opinion about everything, and even if you do, you don't have to say it. Decide what will be helpful and go with that.

3.) Pick the most important things - In the last few weeks I have seen people walk away from God, talked to people who found someone who committed suicide, loved on people who just buried their father from coronavirus, and talked to people who are suffering from severe anxiety, isolation, and depression. When I see these things, I understand that compared to these, many other issues everyone is fighting over are trivial.

4.) Pour into other people and personal relationships. One of the problems is that many people do not have deep relationships and they are filling that need with social networks and are somewhat out of touch with what is really happening with real people-- and are even out of touch with their own selves. In isolation, we have to fight for relationships and not fill that need with social media. 

5.) Publicly emoting causes you to lose the authority of your voice. If you want to be heard and for your voice to count, don't publicly spew out everything that is going through your heart and mind. Create a group of safe people around you that you can share those things with, and with the Lord,  then when you come say something publicly, you will be heard. There is a saying, "A wise man once said nothing." It is true. That is why people listen to wise men when they speak. 

6.) If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, fear, panic -- get off media for a while. Detox from it. Then set limits on it. You will be amazed at the difference. As with detoxing from anything -- it takes a few days to "kick the habit." Give it 3 or more days and then you will start to notice a difference. I recommend everyone to take a regular detox from media. Put it in your schedule. 

7.) Right now, we all need to help each other care for our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health. No one has it easy right now. Real lives and hearts are at stake. In all of our efforts to be right, let's not forget to be kind.

8.) True justice starts at the Cross of Jesus Christ and will culminate when He returns as King. The first commandment must be in first place in our lives for the second commandment to happen. Anything else is idolatry. (Matt. 22:34-40)

9.) Your view of the state of the world at the return of Jesus will affect how you respond to current events. Get your Bible open and study it.

10.) Everything high will be brought low and only the Lord will be exalted. If it's not humility, then it's not safe.

11.) I've heard so many ask, "Where are the Prophets?" The real ones are mostly on their faces weeping,  because the message hasn't changed,  "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, and heal their land." (1 Chron. 7:13-14) And "Rend your hearts, not your garments." (Joel 2:12-14) That message won't change until we do it. And until we do it, nothing will change. 

Devo 59: The Genesis One Creativity of Healing

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them…And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 1:1-2; 26-27; 2:7

Imagine Jesus kneeling down in the dirt, making the first man. He probably put some dirt in His hands and spit in it (sound familiar?). Forming clay, He molded hands, feet, eyes, head, mouth, nose…Not only that, but He shaped organs. He shaped the lungs—the bronchial tubes, the alveoli, pleural membrane, cilia—little intricate organisms. He shaped the cells—mitochondria, DNA, ribosomes, chromosomes…He shaped the heart and arteries. He shaped the brain—the different hemispheres, the brain stem, the synapses, nerve endings, spinal chord, nervous system, etc…He sculpted every nook and cranny of the colon, stomach, liver, spleen, diaphragm, muscles, bones, veins, tendons, ligaments, cells…Every little part of the human body, Jesus formed it by hand.

He is a Craftsman. Proverbs 8 personifies Jesus as Wisdom. As He speaks of the formation of the world, Jesus says, “Then I was beside Him as a Master Craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men” (Prov. 8:30-31). Jesus was creative—of course. He is the Creator.

Psalm 139 speaks of how God cares about the human body. The psalmist says:

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psalm 139:13-15

Our physical bodies are precious to the Lord. He made them. He also loves to heal them. Asking for healing, releasing a prophetic word, or praying for heaven to come to earth are actually ways to release the creativity that God has given us.

We are made in His image, and He is Creator. We cannot create anything, but through us, the Holy Spirit can create. He can speak through us with the same power and authority that He created the world.

When we realize our God is the Creator, we can understand why humans love creativity. We love art. We love knew ideas. We love to see beautiful structures that man has built. Man is made in God’s image, therefore creativity is part of human design.

Even natural men can be artistic, creative, and have ingenuity. However, men cannot create in the natural. They can only take what is already created and reform it to make something out of it. Jesus did that when he formed man. He formed man out of dust—but of course, He was the one who spoke the dust into being.

When we partner with the Lord, however, we can see things in heaven and call them into existence on earth. It’s called faith. Faith is the substance of things unseen, and the evidence of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1). We can bind and loose things in heaven and earth (Mt. 18). When we behold God the Creator and get a grasp on what things are like in heaven, we have the boldness to pray for them on earth.

Jesus told us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” (Mt. 6, Lk 11). Although this does pertain to the time when Jesus establishes His reign on earth, it is not limited to that time. The kingdom is our inheritance as sons and daughters. The Lord originally designed men to have dominion over the earth, but man gave his dominion over to Satan when he sinned.

However, as we come under the reign and dominion of Christ and are seated with Him in heavenly places, we also have His authority through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Many times, we try to fight our way up to heavenly things as though we could do anything on our own strength, but God puts everything in us, and He is the one who has called us sons. He made us sons and also heirs (Gal. 4). We are already seated with Him in heavenly places. We can do nothing to earn it.

We often have so many reasons in our mind why we should not pray and believe for healing—mostly unanswered prayer. We prayed and the person died anyway. Our hearts were broken. We ask why. We have physical problems in our own bodies. We do not understand and become discouraged.

All of those thoughts, feelings, and emotions are real. However, we must have faith and just keep asking, keep believing, keep asking, keep believing. The problem is that sometimes we feel it is just too painful for our hearts. We do not want to put ourselves out there anymore. Its too vulnerable, too painful, too difficult…So, we become burned out, discouraged—and if we let that go long enough—offended, bitter, and angry. We stop believing and stop asking.

But, the testing of our faith produces patience, and when patience has its perfect work, it brings us into maturity, lacking nothing (Js. 1). Not only that, but our faith is accounted to us as righteousness (Heb. 11). Not only that, but faith is the foundation for the kingdom of God. We must become like a little child (Mt. 18:3). Little children just believe. They do not know any different.

Also, healing is real. It actually happens today. The kingdom of God really exists and people are actually healed.

In Matthew 8, a centurion came to Jesus and asked for his servant to be healed. The centurion said that if Jesus only said the word his servant would be healed without Him even going back to his house. It says that Jesus marveled at the man. I heard someone pray the other day, “Jesus, Give me faith you can marvel at.” What a wonderful prayer. Jesus, give me faith you can marvel at.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He said, “Let there be…” and there was. God took so much care in sculpting the human body. He cares what we do with it, how we take care of it, and He loves to heal it. So, let’s just ask—and keep asking, and ask again—and just believe, keep believing, and believe again.

Blessings,

Amanda

Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved